[Read] ➫ Big Summer Author Jennifer Weiner – Tkcleaningservices.co.uk

I won this ARC in a GoodReads Giveaway in exchange for a fair review My thanks to GR, the publisher and the author for this opportunity.This is not my typical go to genre nor do I feel like I am the ideal demographic for this book Even so, I was spellbound from the beginning and finished this in one sitting When things became twisty in the middle of the book I was completely unprepared for it and found I could not stop reading until I reached the riveting conclusion Still I felt the first half of the book was for me anyway the stronger half by a smidgen But by then, Daphne Berg had stolen my heart completely and I was all in I think this is going to be a perfect summer read JAW DROP.This book will be so difficult to review, and I will tread carefully because of spoilers, but I highly recommend you don t read any reviews, including my own until you pick this up for yourself Review to comeMany thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy. 3.5 starsI would still want to be her friend, because she was everything I wanted to be Six years after the fight and video that ended their friendship, Drue Cavanaugh comes back into Daphne Berg s life Drue is as Blonde, skinny and beautiful as ever and she needs something from Daphne She comes begging forgiveness and for Daphne to be her Maid of honor at her wedding Daphne is shocked, that night besides being incredibly painful was the turning point in her life She turned her pain and embarrassment into a career and is now a social media influencer So why her Why not ask someone else to be in her wedding This book started slowly for me Let me clarify, I enjoyed the beginning with the single woman raising her son on the Cape, but then there is a dramatic shift and the book tells the story of Daphne, Drue and to a small degree, Daphne s roommate and lifelong friend, Dashni as well After the change is the storyline, it took until the 49 percent mark for me to become fully invested in the book That is when things became interesting to me That is when the book which was many things a book about female friendships, body shamming, self esteem, the positive and negative aspects of sharing parts of your life on social media, family, accepting yourself, etc., became a whodunit as well The last part of the book moved very fast for me as I was eager to find out all the questions brought up in this book The last part of this book saved it for me Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review All the thoughts and opinions are my own. I was actually really surprised with Big Summer.Jennifer Weiner explores some heavy issues in this one around social media, societal views on women, and women s body image Our main character Daphne Berg has been made fun of and judged by her body her entire life Sadly, she was made fun of by her best friend Drue Drue is quite the typical bombshell beauty but is extremely stuck up and just mean Drue of course begs Daphne to be her bridesmaid because she is getting married.There is a significant elements and layers to this novel I wasn t expecting at all a mystery within this women s fiction But, Weiner totally pulls it off Weiner weaves a story about the reality of social media with friendships, romance, and mystery all in the perfect summer tale The only minor issue I had with this one was the main character Daphne is having insecurities about being overweight and feeling not good enough It felt a little judge on labeling typical skinny women and overweight women Overall, I would grab this one for your beach bag Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the arc in exchange for an honest review.3.75 stars rounded up.Pub date 5 19 20Published to GR 2 28 20 Full of surprises and a deep dive into the world of influencers, body image, and acceptance.Characters Body Image Discussions Plot Arc Daphne is a plus size influencer in our modern world of Instagram, hashtags, and body acceptance But she s still at the accepting part when it comes to her own body and the life she leads on Instagram is a constant push pull with her internal monologue Drue Cavanaugh used to be Daphne s best friend, but when she burned Daphne and made their last fight about Daphne s weight, Daphne escaped Drue was rich, thin, blonde, and perfect it was time for Daphne to cut her losses.Years later, out of the blue, Drue contacts Daphne and asks her to be in her wedding She even offers to pay her Turns out Drue s mean girl self hasn t done her any favors Daphne knows she s been coerced and bribed, but she says yes anyway She s never been able to say no to Drue for very long Big Summer is mostly about Daphne s experience at the Cape with Drue s wedding, but it s also series of memories of Daphne s childhood And, specifically, a journey through Daphne s mind as she glitches on every single moment with thoughts on her body and body size Also, there was a huge twist about halfway through Big Summer that I was NOT expecting I m so glad the description didn t allude to it I thought it made this novel so much better, and really enjoyed where it took Daphne If I had to pick a negative, I d say that this novel is the most fat focused of any Jennifer Weiner that I ve read so far That feels weird to say as a negative, but hear me out as someone who is plus sized herself, I found it disheartening that literally every single moment, every single thought, and every single plot point focused or mentioned something explicitly related to Daphne s weight At the beginning, I was like Yes Someone gets it but towards the first halfand the middleand the endI felt myself wishing, desperately, for balance in the main character In a way, by focusing on this aspect of Daphne so much, we went past highlighting her acceptance to reducing her to that one characteristicwhich I feel was a problem, as we re trying to make plus size women feel seen and normalizednot reduced to their weight, or distilled down to one trait of self body hate However, overall I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and am thrilled to see where Jennifer Weiner takes us next don t miss this one this summer Thank you to Simon Schuster for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.Blog Instagram The first half of this novel is written in the style I ve come to know and love from Ms Weiner Daphne Berg was a scholarship student at a private school She was friends with the nerdy misfits, but she was honored to bask in glow of Drue Lathrop Cavanaugh, the wealthy, beautiful girl, who sometimes made Daphne feel like the queen of the world and sometimes made her feel insecure because of her bigger size in a world of skinny, cosmetic surgery enhanced rich people Daphne has done her best to stop body shaming herself and become a social media influencer a starter one, but with potential for growth When Drue reenters her life after six years begging her to be her maid of honor Daphne wasn t the only friend she lost because of her penchant for cruelty , Daphne reluctantly agrees The second half becomes a mystery I enjoyed it, it s just not Weiner s usual style Which is fine she s such a talented writer I ll follow her anywhere it was just unexpected Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which will be RELEASED MAY 19, 2020. The New York Times Bestselling Author Of The Nothing Short Of Brilliant People Mrs Everything Returns With An Unforgettable Novel About Friendship And Forgiveness Set During A Disastrous Wedding On Picturesque Cape CodSix Years After The Fight That Ended Their Friendship, Daphne Berg Is Shocked When Drue Cavanaugh Walks Back Into Her Life, Looking As Lovely And Successful As Ever, With A Massive Favor To Ask Daphne Hasn T Spoken One Word To Drue In All This Time She Doesn T Even Hate Follow Her Ex Best Friend On Social Media So When Drue Asks If She Will Be Her Maid Of Honor At The Society Wedding Of The Summer, Daphne Is Rightfully Speechless Drue Was Always The One Who Had Everything Except The Ability To Hold Onto Friends Meanwhile, Daphne S No Longer The Same Self Effacing Sidekick She Was Back In High School She S Built A Life That She Loves, Including A Growing Career As A Plus Size Instagram Influencer Letting Glamorous, Seductive Drue Back Into Her Life Is Risky, But It Comes With An Invitation To Spend A Weekend In A Waterfront Cape Cod Mansion When Drue Begs And Pleads And Dangles The Prospect Of Cute Single Guys, Daphne Finds Herself Powerless As Ever To Resist Her Friend S Siren Song A Sparkling Novel About The Complexities Of Female Friendship, The Pitfalls Of Living Out Loud And Online, And The Resilience Of The Human Heart, Big Summer Is A Witty, Moving Story About Family, Friendship, And Figuring Out What Matters Most Out of all the books I have read during this period of quarantine, this by far has been my favorite distraction read It felt so nice to be able to relax with a solid main character and a story that held my interest as my concentration level hasn t been at a high level recently The book was a good mix of mindless escapism and a little bit of substance but not nearly enough to make it a heavy read Six years Daphne Berg stopped talking to her childhood friend, Drue Cavanaugh, after a huge fight Drue has good looks, money, and charm but she s also one of those Mean Girl types and Daphne was always regulated to a sidekick role rather than the two of them being equals But now Daphne has achieved some success as a plus size influencer on social media and Drue reneters her life asking for a big favor You see Drue is getting married to a reality tv star and she wants Daphne to be one of her bridesmaids Given the wedding will get a lot of press, career wise it would be smart for Daphne to accept, but by doing so she opens herself up to potentially getting hurt again.Daphne is someone who you can t help but root for and want her to be happy and successful in life While we all know a Drue type person in real life, most of us like Daphne and that s why she is a relatable character This is a quick and easy read but there are quite a few things going on in the story I found myself fascinated with Daphne s relationships with other people in her life besides Drue as it provided a good context to who she was as a person The social media aspects of the story were interesting to me as well I don t want to give away too much of the plot but there are two rather distinct parts of the story I might not have loved everything in the second part but I do like it when writers take a chance and keep readers on their toes Definitely recommend if you are looking for a decent escape from the real world type of read I normally would say this is a good beach vacation read but time s have changed so let s just call it a good quarantine read.Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for providing me an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review OOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYGOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDGIVE IT TO ME NOWWWWWW She described her clothes as, Luscious , it sounded like a new code word for fat like, Rubenesque There always seemed to be a code word to describe a fat person some biting, meant to sting and be mean Then some marketing person realized fat women need clothes too, so they better come up with a word that sounded appealing, positive, making these women feel attractive, you know, less fat.I m excited about this book Jennifer Weiner tackles plus size women and fat shaming head on in this novel, as it should be Of course, she does it with humor and honesty, but wrapped in a story of two BFFs from high school into their adult lives One is a girl of privilege, Drue and the other was the scholarship girl, Daphne, at the fancy prep school they attended together Life happens, so much life When a blind date Drue set up for Daphne, goes all wrong on the dance floor of a local club, Daphne turns the shamming around and gives a guy a lesson in manners and values Unbeknownst to Daphne, someone filmed it and posted it the next day The video goes viral and to Daphne s shock, most of the hits are positive for her She s stunned She s always tried to eat healthy and exercise She s just a big girl If all the people see her as a real person then it s time for her to see it too Daphne replaces her dark wardrobe for colorful clothes that enhance her shape and becomes a media influencer She s positive and honest, and her followers love that about her.As the second half unfolds, we re suddenly involved in a mystery of a who dunnit, with most of the characters from part one Drue is getting married and begs Daphne to be in her wedding, explaining she doesn t have any friends Well, Daphne understands when you use people most of your life that can happen Drue pleads so Daphne accepts The wedding is the extravaganza Daphne anticipated, but unexpected s t happens that no one could have possibly predicted Are we going stay around this You bet we are It s so well done you will not put the book down Big Summer is a Big Winner Thank you Netgalley, Atria Publishing, and Jennifer Weiner

Jennifer Weiner is the 1 New York Times bestselling author of seventeen books, including Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, and, most recently, Mrs Everything. Her new novel, Big Summer, debuts May 5, 2020 A graduate of Princeton University and contributor to the New York Times Opinion section, she lives with her family in Philadelphia Visit her online at JenniferWeiner.com.